Goodbye Summer

Going...

...going...

...gone...

Goodbye to summer! It sure was a great one...

...but the school year is off to a great start. Audrey is already absorbing a lot in Kindergarten. Last night Luke caught her out of bed kneeling in front of her nightlight. Upon questioning, she revealed she was out of bed praying to her nightlight because, "Mrs. Hundelt told me Jesus is the light of the world."

There's just something about their Dad...

...that inspires confidence in my girls. The last two times I have tried to take Kateri on a carousel she has flat our refused and clung to me (or Nanny) as she watched the terrifying horses whirl by. Yet on one afternoon during our Newport trip, she didn't even bat an eye when Luke asked her if she wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel with him. (If you scrutinize the orange car in the picture above, you might glimpse a portion of a tiny blond pigtail sticking up next to Luke.)
Anyway, it reminded me of this summer in Boston, where Audrey was not keen on trying to boogie board until the week Luke came, after which she had no problem face-planting in the gravel every other wave. It makes me wonder whether this is some virtue inherent in his big strong dependable persona. Maybe said persona just overshadows my worrying, neurotic one....

...you know the one that wouldn't let them hang over the rail because when they leaned over I had visions of them toppling off of this pier into the heaving swells below: that neurotic persona. Thank the good Lord I have Luke to balance me out with his confidence. It's just one of the many qualities I am grateful for in my dear husband. When he's with us, we all feel as though the dangers of the world don't really stand a chance.

Plus, he buys us ice cream.

Cousin time

I just wanted to post some more pictures of our time in Newport. The girls loved getting to spend some time with their little cousins.

Viv had a little bit of stranger danger which happily didn't apply to Lili.

Tolton was a little shy, but he warmed up in the end. Audrey and Tolton continue to have a special little affinity for each other which warms my heart, especially when I remember how she used to call him "my big boy" when he was a baby...

...and this little dynamo right here on the right kept us all entertained.

Gianna and Kateri showing off their yellow swimsuits.

We miss you little Winterings!

Family Reunion

In case you didn't realize how spoiled my kids are, after coming home from a lovely six week stint in Scituate, we all got to go spend a week in Newport Beach thanks to the generosity of Uncle Justin. The whole Speier fam got to be together again.

It was a gorgeous week.

A little surf...

A little sand...

We celebrated Justin's retirement...

...and Gianna, Tolton and Kateri's birthdays.

And in general just enjoyed hanging out together. One of my greatest hopes for my children is that they stay close to each other throughout their lives, and provide a shoulder to lean on when necessary. They have such great models for this on both sides of our family, and I hope that the memory of these times with the Birds and the Speiers will reinforce the importance of family in their lives.

So thank you so much, Justin, for a wonderful week, and helping us stay close as a family!

Lili's Birthday (a month and a half later)

I'm really behind on the blog. We have been so busy, what with taking another family vacation, starting school, and riding the emotional roller coaster of real estate. Lili has been begging me since her birthday to put photos up on the blog so she can look back and relive it. She actually got to celebrate her birthday twice this summer. The first time was when her daddy and all her Aunts and Uncles were in Scituate to celebrate with her. These wonderful aforementioned Aunts and Uncles were so kind and generous and made her birthday dinner a great night.

I was so happy that she wanted Toy Story Toys. Eight seems like it could go either way, and so I am relieved that she is still so into little-kid stuff and not asking for clothes or anything.

The day of her actual birthday, the Bird house was pretty deserted, so we headed off with Nanny to Nantasket beach for a little miniature golf and a ride on the carousel.

Audrey had some beginner's luck.

Kateri didn't play too many holes, but she loved exploring.

The girls capped the evening off by making pink cupcakes with Nanny and giving them out to the neighbors. Happy birthday Lili!

Scituate Summer VII :Why Kateri looks ashamed in this photo:

One day we decided to take the commuter train into the city with my lovely cousin Amanda. Amanda, if you are reading this, if you ever want to come to Phoenix and be our unpaid nanny again, the job is yours. Anyway, we stopped at Sam LaGrassa's for some delicious sandwiches and headed towards the Common to eat them. On the way, we passed the Granary Cemetery, where John Hancock and Paul Revere among others, are buried.

As you can see, some of the headstones are tilted and uneven. One of them, weathered and fading, survived the centuries only to have my Audrey step off the path and lean the full weight of her husky five-year old frame on it to "straighten it out." Luckily, I shrieked at her to stop before the ancient stone crumbled or snapped. Luckily, none of the five or so Freedom Trail guides in full costume saw her. These dudes take their job seriously, and if they had seen us and yelled at us, I'm pretty sure Lili would have died of embarrassment right then and there. Anyway, that's why Kateri looks ashamed...

The rest of the day was lovely...we saw the Swan Boats at the Public Gardens and walked over to the Aquarium to see the seals before heading home with a sigh of relief to beautiful quiet Scituate.

Scituate Summer Part VI: Fishing with Papa

My girls are so lucky to have their Papa, who takes them on all sorts of adventures on his days off.Getting their fishing gear ready...

Fishing at the reservoir for little perch...I realized that I am far more squeamish than my little girls during this trip. I couldn't bring myself to break off segments of wriggling earthworms for the hooks, so I had to ask Audrey to do it. "Sure, Mom!" She replied, taking care of business while I averted my eyes. "No problem."

Lili took care of removing the hooks and throwing the fish back to be caught again another day.

Papa also bought an inflatable raft this year. The girls had lots of pirate ship adventures in it with Papa, staying out hours at a time thanks to their wetsuits, and then Papa started taking Nanny out for rides in it and fishing from it.

He caught this beauty of a bluefish from it after it took them for a Nantucket sleigh ride down the beach.
Very exciting!